Exports bring Romanian beef and horse meat producer Doly-Com one third of turnover

Romania Insider

Romanian meat processor Doly-Com ended 2012 with a turnover of EUR 34 million, out of which EUR 4 million was made by selling minced meat rolls called ‘mici’. The company is based in Botosani and owned by Romanian businessman Iulian Cazacut, and its name was recently involved in the horse meat scandal, but was later found to have nothing to do with the tainted meat. Doly-Com is, according to its data, the largest slaughter house for cows and horses and the biggest producer of fresh meat in Romania.

Despite the international scandal, the company still plans to focus on exporting its main product, beef, on international markets. “We will not abandon the foreign markets and we are making efforts to keep and develop our international presence. We have invested so far EUR 10 million in food safety technologies […]. The problem we face has nothing to do with distrust in our products, but rather with the pressure our foreign partners feel from national authorities and the public towards products from Romania,” said Iulian Căzăcuţ, general manager of Doly-Com.

Exports to Austria, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Germany and countries outside the European Union brought the company 30 percent of its turnover last year. Beef was half of Doly-Com’s sales in 2012, pork, 45 percent, and horse meat, only 5 percent. The turnover target for 2013 is similar to last year’s, some EUR 34 million. According to the company’s estimations, the value of Romania’s beef production is of some EUR 80 million, out of which Doly-Com estimates it has a 14 percent market share.

Doly-Com, set up in 1997, has been exporting beef since 2005, and sells its products locally via the large retail chains. It owns two brands, Kravys and Carpathian Beef.